Eurozone Economic Sentiment July 2017

Eurozone: Economic sentiment inches up in July

July 28, 2017

The European Commission (EC) reported that economic sentiment in the Eurozone was broadly unchanged in July, holding at the best result in nearly a decade. The economic sentiment index (ESI) increased from 111.1 to 111.2. The result overshot market analysts’ expectations of a slight fall to 110.8.

Looking at the result in detail, July’s result was due to higher sentiment in the services sector which offset weaker confidence in the financial services and retail trade sectors. Consumer confidence weakened slightly while confidence in the construction sector rose.

At a country level, economic sentiment rose in Germany and the Netherlands. In contrast, economic sentiment in Italy, France and Spain worsened compared to the previous month.

FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists see private consumption growing 1.6% in 2017, which is unchanged from last month’s projection. For 2018, panelists see consumption also expanding 1.6%. Panelists expect investment to grow 3.8% in 2017, which is down 0.7 percentage points from last month’s forecast. In 2018, panelists see investment increasing 2.9%.